Iraq

NEW YORK // A group of nearly two dozen American members of Congress have written to Donald Trump asking him to approve sales of armed drones to the UAE and Jordan after the Obama administration blocked the move. In a letter obtained by The National, they say the two Arab …

BEIRUT // Lebanon is a country that likes to pride itself on being a democracy. But it is also a country that has not had parliamentary elections in nearly eight years, whose rulers many now consider to be illegitimate. Parliament has twice voted to extend its term since 2013, citing …

A US naval jet making a landing on the flight deck of the USS George HW Bush after a training exercise on March 20, 2017. The USNS Amelia Earhart, an American naval cargo ship, seen from the hangar of the USS George HW Bush aircraft carrier on March 22, 2017 …

Istanbul // Turkey’s referendum on Sunday is the most consequential poll of the Recep Tayyip Erdogan era, and possibly of the country’s modern history. President Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP) government are urging voters to back a series of constitutional reforms that would dramatically enhance the power …

Istanbul // Turkey’s referendum on Sunday is the most consequential poll of the Recep Tayyip Erdogan era, and possibly of the country’s modern history. President Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP) government are urging voters to back a series of constitutional reforms that would dramatically enhance the power …

CAIRO // Egypt’s interior ministry on Thursday identified the second suicide bomber in this week’s two Coptic church blasts in the cities of Tanta and Alexandria, which were claimed by ISIL and killed 45 people. The Tanta bomber was named as Mamdouh Amin Mohamed Baghdadi, a resident of the city …

MOSCOW // US secretary of state Rex Tillerson and Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov began tense talks in Moscow on Wednesday as the two sides locked horns over an Syrian chemical attack and subsequent missile strike by Washington. Mr Tillerson said he wanted “a very open, candid and frank exchange” …

MOSUL // Soldiers occupying the elegant houses that line the edge of Mosul’s Old City lounge on mattresses in dimly lit rooms. Some sit together in spacious courtyards smoking water pipes. Others hold watch on rooftops and in doorways. They move between buildings through holes knocked into the walls, or …

Iraq troops battle ISIL on edge of Mosul’s Old City – video April 9, 2017 In the battle for west Mosul, Iraqi forces are often only metres away from ISIL fighters. Watch as they fire at an abandoned school, trying to keep the extremists at bay. Source link

Trump orders military strikes on Assad airbase – video April 7, 2017 US president Donald Trump orders a missile strike against Shayrat airbase in Syria, from which he says a deadly chemical weapon attack was launched. Mr Trump says he acted in America’s “vital national security interest” against president Bashar …